


Locked Out Of Heaven

by Knappster



Series: Space Stacie [1]
Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Friendship, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-12
Updated: 2015-08-01
Packaged: 2018-04-08 23:22:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4324761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Knappster/pseuds/Knappster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aubrey is instantly attracted to Stacie when she meets her but she doesn't want anything that might distract her from winning the ICCA finals. (Staubrey and side Bechloe)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from the Bruno Mars song of the same name that they sang in Ground Floor when Anna Camp guest starred.

Aubrey checked herself in the mirror one last time and sighed. This was her first time she felt like she was actually doing something since being handed the pitch pipe that put her in charge of the Bellas. To say she was nervous was an understatement. This was her chance to redeem herself, to show Alice and those other bitches that she wasn't a loser and that she could do what they never could. This last loss was, admittedly, her fault; but she would show them she could get a great group of girls and lead them to the ICCA finals.

She wrung her hands in front of her. She knew it was going to be hard, she hadn't seen many promising candidates at the activities fair. The most promising one had been the weird Australian girl and she was nothing like the traditional Bellas. But Chloe was right, finding good singers was their priority. She nodded at herself, giving herself a mental pep talk, convincing herself that she could turn this whole thing around.

A knock on the door brought her back from her thoughts. "Bree, we're gonna to be late!"

She smoothed an invisible wrinkle down the front of her dress, and with one last look in the mirror she walked out of the room, finding her roommate in front of her door. The redhead looked almost as nervous as she felt and Aubrey gave her a reassuring smile, turning towards the front door. "Let's go find us some new Bellas."

* * *

Grabbing another audition form from the pile in front of her and moving it to the maybe pile, Aubrey allowed herself to relax. She no longer thought this was hopeless; the tomboyish girl with the pink hair had an amazing voice, as well as Fat Amy, and she had seen a couple other girls that, with a little guidance from her and Chloe, would be competition ready in no time.

Even Chloe seemed more relaxed, although every time someone left the stage she seemed to be ready to crawl right out of her skin, and when the next person came out her expression seemed to fall almost imperceptibly, like she was waiting for someone to show up.

She was about to ask what was wrong with her when the next person walked on the stage and all rational thought fled her mind. The first thing she noticed was the long legs that seemed to move in slow motion. Her gaze travelled up to the cleavaged shirt where it lingered on the perfectly formed pair of breasts. What she was definitely not ready for was the breathtakingly beautiful face that came with that body. She was immediately hypnotized by the most beautiful green eyes she had ever seen. A perfectly proportioned nose sat on top of deliciously thick lips that were moving, but Aubrey couldn't focus on the words coming out from them. The girl stopped talking and gave them a stunning smile. She was giving the girl another once-over when she felt an elbow to her ribs and Chloe leaned down to whisper in her ear. "You're drooling."

She closed her mouth and crossed her arms in front of her. "Am not." Chloe chuckled and gave her a knowing smile. She knew Aubrey had dated a couple of girls and, like herself, wasn't immune to a hot girl but decided not to tease her further.

Aubrey tried to focus on the girl's performance. The touching would have to be fixed but she could work with her voice and she was sure dancing wouldn't be a problem for the brunette with those long legs. She started imagining what other things those legs could do when she felt Chloe's elbow again. She chastised herself for letting her mind wander but she couldn't help looking at the sensuous sway of the brunette's hips as she walked offstage. She immediately took her audition form and read the name on the top: Stacie Conrad. She smiled and put the form on the growing 'yes' pile. Chloe smirked but didn't say anything.

* * *

Stacie was dancing around her room trying to decide what to wear. She had heard from one of the boys she met at auditions that there was an a capella only party that night after each team had their respective initiations. After the way the blonde girl looked at her, Stacie was sure she'd made it into the Bellas.

Stacie had been intrigued by the blonde. She could tell she was the one in charge and that she was one of those no nonsense, super focused kind of girls. But the way she looked at Stacie from the moment she stepped on stage was not the look of someone in control. She looked like she was about to jump across the desk, pounce on her and take her right there on that stage. Truth be told, that thought really turned Stacie on during her audition and might have increased some of her self-touching. Stacie was used to getting those looks from all kinds of people, she knew she looked good and she knew how she dressed. But there was something about that girl that made Stacie want to test how much she could make her lose control.

Stacie finished getting dressed and smiled at her reflection, she looked amazing. She put on lipstick and popped her lips. "I'm gonna get me some aca-booty tonight!"

* * *

Aubrey sat on the steps of the amphitheater, she'd already had a few drinks and she decided it was time to sit when she couldn't focus enough on Fat Amy to make out what she was saying. She looked at her new group of Bellas and smiled, most of them were drunkenly dancing with a couple of guys from the BU Harmonics. She sighed and hoped she had made the right choice with these girls. She only had doubts about that alt-girl but Chloe seemed to like her so she didn't fight it. Especially since Chloe didn't say anything about Stacie.

Aubrey smiled. She remembered how cute and excited the younger girl looked holding her scarf and reciting the Bellas oath. At the party, however, she had done her best to avoid the brunette. Even if Stacie was interested in her, starting something with another Bella might complicate things and she needed to focus on the competition. She hadn't had to try really hard to get away; the brunette stuck to the other girls and only ever came close to her when they were dancing but Aubrey managed to escape, claiming she needed another drink.

She frowned as she saw Kori grinding up against one of the Trebles and was about to go and put a stop to it when a body collided into her and a mass of red curls obscured her vision. "What are you doing sitting here by yourself? Come! Dance with me!"

The redhead grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the other dancing Bellas. Aubrey chuckled as she followed, twirling Chloe when they got to the dancefloor earning a cheer from the rest of the girls. She danced with Chloe for a bit but they soon fell back to dancing as a group with the rest of the team.

She closed her eyes and danced contentedly, relaxing and not thinking about anything. When she took a step back, she felt a pair of hands on her hips and hot breath on the back of her neck. "Hiya, capt."

She shivered when she heard Stacie's voice. The taller girl's hands were moving gently with her as she continued to dance, pressing her close to the brunette's front. "You've been avoiding me." Her voice sounded amused. "I wanted to get to know the person who picked me for the Bellas."

Stacie's lips grazed her ear and she had to bite her lip to hold back the moan forming in her throat. She turned around and Stacie rested her hands around the blonde's waist. "How do you know it was me?"

Stacie chuckled. There was something darkly seductive about that chuckle that made Aubrey feel like the younger girl's pray, but in this case, the predator was a very sexy, tall brunette with the most kissable lips. Aubrey blushed at her thought and took a step back removing the hands on her waist and holding them in front of her.

Stacie smirked and turned Aubrey around without letting go of her hands, swaying against her back again. "Chloe wasn't giving me the look you were giving me during my audition and she hasn't been avoiding me all night."

Aubrey could feel Stacie's breasts pressing on her back, her hips moving rhythmically against hers and her hands near her stomach. She allowed herself to enjoy feeling the brunette so close for a second, closing her eyes and leaning her head back, resting it on the other girl's shoulder. Taking it as a good sign, Stacie nuzzled the blonde's neck. When she felt Stacie's lips lightly grazing her neck, reality came crashing back and she froze. "I don't think this is a good idea."

She disentangled herself from the taller girl and started walking up the steps to get out. She had already made it halfway out when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Bree, wait. Don't go. I'm sorry… I just… I'm very direct and when I thought you liked me I… I'm sorry, don't leave."

Aubrey looked up to meet Stacie's eyes. All her bravado was gone and all she could see in them was vulnerability. She squeezed Stacie's hand. "No, I'm sorry, Stace. I do like you… a lot, but we don't really know each other and I don't want to risk doing something that might hurt the Bellas." She held out her hand. "Friends?"

Stacie gave her a small smile and took the offered hand. "Friends."

Without letting her go, she pulled her back to the dance floor, this time staying at a respectable distance. The brunette stuck out her tongue and gave her a cheeky smile. Aubrey smiled back, trying to squash the feeling in the pit of her stomach. This wasn't going to be easy but it was the right thing to do.


	2. Chapter 2

Friends… Stacie liked being friends with Aubrey. She liked going to Bellas rehearsals and help Aubrey rearrange the gym afterwards. Most times she would just sit by the piano and watch Aubrey stack up chairs while they talked about nothing and everything.

When Aubrey suggested they be friends, it turned off Stacie's flirty side which made her open up more to the blonde. She liked that when she told the blonde that she was thinking about majoring in something science related, instead of laughing like most people did, she just nodded and said "Yeah, I can see that." She loved that the blonde didn't assume that she was stupid and would often ask for her opinion. She loved how she'd text her most mornings to see if she wanted to go jogging with her. She loved the easy silence between them when they ran, their steps synching up perfectly and the focused look on Aubrey's face. She loved how she'd send her links to geeky things she knew would interest her and how she didn't make fun of her when she told her she loved World of Warcraft. She loved… Stacie stopped when she realized she was thinking of the word love when thinking about Aubrey. They were friends. Just friends.

Yes, she really liked being friends with Aubrey. She also really liked sex which was the only thing she wouldn't talk about with the blonde. Not because she thought Aubrey would judge her, she was sure Aubrey knew she had sex people, and she usually didn't have a problem discussing it, she wasn't ashamed. But as their relationship developed, it seemed to be an unspoken agreement between them to not discuss what they did with other people. But lately it seemed that having sex with random people wasn't as fun as it used to be.

Stacie stretched until her hand was stopped by something under the covers, making her pull back. She peeked across the bed at her clock and groaned. Taking a deep breath, she got out of bed and woke up the blonde girl in her bed. She fished a clean pair of underwear from her dresser and some running shorts and started getting dressed while sorting out the mess of clothes on the floor. She threw hers in the hamper and placed the rest at the foot of the bed.

She looked at the girl on her bed for the first time since she got up. She was really pretty, her blonde hair framed her face and she had a sleepy smile on her face. She looked back at Stacie and her smile widened.

"You have to go now."

The girl frowned and sat up, holding the sheet's to her body. "Why?"

Stacie sighed. She hated when this happened. "I have class later and I want to go for a run before that so…"

The girl in her bed grinned seductively. "I can think of something better than running to get your blood pumping."

Stacie rolled her eyes at the cheap line. "I don't do morning after sex, sorry."

She grabbed the clothes she'd placed at the foot of the bed and tossed them at the girl. "I'm gonna go brush my teeth. You should get dressed."

Stacie went into the bathroom and closed the door. She didn't get why it had to be so hard. You meet someone, you have sex, they leave. You'd think people would understand how a one night stand works, it's college.

She finished brushing her teeth and went back into the bedroom. The girl was putting on her shoes and looked up at Stacie when she heard her come back. She smiled at her and Stacie almost smiled back but thought better of it, walking to the other side of the bed to get her phone. She had two texts from Aubrey. She heard a jingle of keys and looked up to see the girl gathering the rest of her stuff. She looked at Stacie shyly. "So… maybe we can do this again sometime?"

"I don't think that's a good idea." Stacie focused on her phone again and opened Aubrey's texts.

**[Aubrey 7:22] Hey, wanna go for run?**

A small smile tugged at her lips and grew as she read the next one.

**[Aubrey 7:48] Hey, lazy! I'm going now. Meet me there if you want to… or I guess I'll just see you later at rehearsal. *pouts***

The last text was sent while she was in the bathroom. If she hurried she could definitely make it before Aubrey finished stretching.

She put her phone in her pocket and saw that the girl was standing by the door looking at her with a sad smile. "She must be pretty special."

Stacie frowned in confusion. "Who?"

"Whoever has you smiling like that. You should tell her and, you know, stop sleeping around." The girl got out and closed the door behind her.

Stacie huffed. She didn't need some random girl she slept with to tell her what to do. It wasn't like she was cheating on Aubrey, they were just friends.

She reached the quad and smiled when she saw Aubrey stretching on the grass on the other side. Slowing down to better appreciate Aubrey's form, and being familiar enough with Aubrey's stretching routine, which never changed, she knew still had a couple of minutes. She was standing facing away from her, holding one of her feet behind her with one hand and holding on to a light post with the other. She was wearing a bright pink shirt and black running pants, her hair tied back in a messy ponytail. She changed the foot she was holding, turning a little bit which allowed Stacie to see her face. She was looking ahead, her tongue slightly poking out the side of her mouth in the most adorable way. Stacie felt her stomach do a summersault.

She sighed and kept walking towards the blonde who was about to finish, stretching her arms above her head and turned. She spotted Stacie walking to her and smiled brightly. "You made it!"

Stacie smiled back, her heart skipping a beat at how happy the blonde seemed to be that she'd come. "Yeah, sorry, I put my phone on silent and forgot."

Aubrey narrowed her eyes at her but didn't comment. "Well come on, Conrad, we're wasting time!"

She took off down the path and Stacie stood there staring at her for a couple of seconds before running to catch up. She ran next to the older girl for a while, occasionally turning her head to look at her.

She realized she had had that feeling of wanting to be more than Aubrey's friend for a while now, she just hadn't identified it. She hadn't even thought about being in a relationship for so long that she'd forgotten what it felt like and she was unsure of what she was supposed to do now. It wasn't that she hadn't wanted to be a relationship. She didn't have a tragic heartbreak story that had led to her to swear them off, she just hadn't found someone who interested her enough to pursue something that went beyond sex, but Aubrey did. She had never wanted to spend as much time with anyone as she wanted to with Aubrey. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to ask her out, she'd get to spend more time with her and maybe even get to touch her.

Stacie looked at Aubrey and thought about what it would be like to walk her back to her apartment after one of their dates, holding her hand and getting to kiss her goodbye. She slowed down and admired the blonde's body. How it moved effortlessly and gracefully away from her, how it stopped and turned and waved at her…

Stacie frowned, looking up and saw Aubrey jogging back to where she was standing. "Stace, what's up? You just stopped. Are you feeling okay?"

The blonde looked up at her with a concerned look on her face. Stacie hadn't even realized she'd stopped, she was just lost in thought, but she couldn't exactly tell Aubrey she stopped because she was thinking about kissing her against her front door. "Umm… yeah… I'm just tired, I guess. I had a late night." She fake yawned and chuckled. "You know me."

Aubrey frowned and Stacie mentally kicked herself. Why did she just imply she had spent the night with someone. She pinched the bridge of her nose. Being this close to Aubrey wasn't helping her figure out what she was feeling. "Maybe I should go rest, I'm not feeling so well."

Before Aubrey could say anything, Stacie turned and took off in the direction of her dorm, leaving the stunned blonde standing by herself.

Stacie didn't stop until she reached her door. She quickly opened it and went to her bed, plopping on it face down. Since she'd cut short her run, she still had some time before she had to get ready for class.

She considered her options. She could do nothing, suffer in silence and hope this crush passees. Except she was pretty sure this was way more than a crush and it would not pass so easily so, next option, she could ask Aubrey out. That was the best option if Aubrey accepted, but if she rejected her the suffering in silence sounded more appealing. She had already rejected her once before, and while she hadn't felt that bad about it back then, she was sure it would feel a lot worse now. Not to mention the possibility of ruining their friendship and the awkwardness whenever she saw her for a Bellas rehearsal. Granted, Aubrey might have changed her mind about dating her since hood night, and she had caught her stealing glances at her body more than a couple of times during rehearsal, but she needed to be sure before she made an ass of herself.

So before she decided between her options she had to find out what Aubrey's answer would be if she asked her out. She could ask Chloe but she was too close to the blonde and could let something slip. Chloe was too risky; she needed someone close enough to Aubrey to help her but distant enough to keep their mouth shut.

She took out her phone and texted the person she thought met that criteria to meet her for coffee before rehearsal and smiled. At least she had a plan now.

* * *

Aubrey slammed the front door and kicked her shoes at the wall, cursing loudly when she stubbed her toe on the hall table. She stomped her way to the kitchen to get some water and froze when she saw Beca in there with Chloe. The DJ was holding the other girl's hand and dropped it as soon as she saw the fuming blonde.

"Hi Aubrey… I was just leaving…" She turned to Chloe and hesitated before kissing her cheek and walking out of the kitchen, mumbling goodbye to Aubrey.

Aubrey waited until she heard the front door close before she walked to the fridge. "Did she sleep here?" She said through gritted teeth from behind the fridge door. At least the shock of seeing Beca in their kitchen so early in the morning had calmed her down a bit.

"What? No, she didn't sleep here. I invited her over for breakfast." Aubrey closed the fridge and raised an eyebrow at Chloe but let it go. They told each other everything so she knew the redhead would tell her about it when she was ready. She took the bottle of water and went to lie down on the living room couch.

She stared at the ceiling trying to control her breathing, not really understanding why she was so upset right now, when her view was blocked by Chloe's concerned face. "What happened?"

She frowned because she didn't really know how to answer that question. Nothing had really happened. Only Stacie telling her she was tired, because she had sex, all the time, with a lot of people, people who weren't her. Okay so she didn't actually say she had had sex with someone but she implied it and she'd never even hinted at her very active sex life before, at least not when it was just the two of them. "Nothing."

Chloe gave her a half smirk and nudged her head so she'd let her sit. When the redhead was settled, Aubrey moved her head down onto her lap. Chloe looked at her frowning friend and started playing with a strand of blonde hair. "Let's see… I assume something happened on your run since you always take at least an hour plus stretching time and I'm pretty sure I heard you leave less than 45 minutes ago." She tapped her chin making a huge act of pretending to think about it. "What could have happened? Maybe there was someone else there and they upset you? Who could that be?"

Chloe furrowed her brow and looked away from Aubrey, really committing to playing her confused role. Aubrey rolled her eyes but relaxed a bit at the other girl's antics. "You know I was with Stacie."

Chloe gasped "Of course! How did I not think of the hottie you've been hanging out with lately?"

Aubrey glared at her and crossed her arms in front of her chest. The other girl looked down at her questioningly while brushing her hair back from her forehead. After a moment Aubrey sighed. "Nothing happened. She was being weird and just stopped midway. She said she was tired and the she'd had a 'late night'" Aubrey air quoted. "She could've just told me she spent the night with someone since it's clearly what she meant."

The redhead almost laughed but tried to keep a straight face because she knew Aubrey was truly upset by this. "So you're mad because Stacie he's-a-hunter Conrad implied that she had had sex."

"No, I'm…" She groaned and covered her face with her hands. "We never talk about sex with other people when it's just us."

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "You talk about sex with each other?"

"What? No, I meant we don't talk about what we do with other people. Sexually or otherwise." Aubrey bit her lip and looked up at Chloe. "Do you think this means she thinks nothing can happen between us?"

Chloe's heart broke at the vulnerable expression on the other girl's face. "I don't know, sweetie. But you were the one who told her you wanted to be friends; you can't expect her to wait around for you to change your mind. It's not fair."

Aubrey only nodded, not trusting her voice. Chloe continued to run her fingers through her hair. "Have you changed your mind?"

"I don't know, Chlo. I really like her but this isn't the best time to be distracted by a relationship, I need to focus on the Bellas."

Chloe chuckled. "She seems to be distracting you either way."

Aubrey considered how much time she spent with Stacie or thinking about her and realized Chloe was right. If she wasn't with her, she was texting her, or some ridiculous song that she knew she liked came on the radio, or she saw something on the internet that she knew Stacie would geek out about. "But what if it doesn't work out and she wants to leave the Bellas? Or what if she doesn't even want to go out with me anymore? What if it's too late and it doesn't even matter if I changed my mind or not and I just ruin our friendship?"

She turned her head and faced the front, trying to hide the tears she wasn't able to hold back anymore. Chloe sighed and rubbed her back gently. "I haven't seen you like this about anyone before. Maybe she's worth the risk but you won't know until you tell her how you feel. Just don't wait too long."

They stayed like that for a while, until Aubrey felt like she could talk again without breaking down. Maybe she wasn't ready to tell Stacie how she felt but at least she wasn't denying her feelings for her anymore. She just hoped that it wasn't too late if she did decide to do something about those feelings. She squeezed Chloe's knee and sat up. "So, you and the hobbit huh?"

Chloe grabbed a cushion from the couch and threw it at her. "Hey, don't call my girlfriend that!"

Aubrey chuckled and threw the cushion back. "She's your girlfriend now?"

The redhead looked blushed and looked down. "We're still in negotiations but I'm hopeful."

Aubrey hugged her. "I'm happy for you, Chlo."


	3. Chapter 3

Stacie tapped her fingers on the lid of her coffee, her sight fixed on the door. She was running on a mix of nervousness and excitement that made it almost impossible to stay still while she waited. That and the fact that the other girl was five minutes late and Stacie had been over twenty minutes early made her restlessness increase exponentially. Maybe she should've gone with the decaf.

The door opened and Beca came in, pulling down her headphones. Stacie jumped from her seat and waved at her to which Beca responded with a nod, going over to the counter to place her order. Stacie fiddled with her fingers while she waited for the DJ to order and get her drink. When the other girl finally made it to the table, Stacie grabbed her and pulled her down to sit next to her. "You're here!"

Beca chuckled and moved a couple inches away to a more comfortable distance. "I am here, captain obvious. What did you wanna talk about? Sounded serious."

Stacie bit her lip smiling. "I want to ask Aubrey out."

Beca smiled back at her. "Finally! I was starting to think Chloe was right and you guys were never gonna sack up."

Stacie frowned. "You guys talk about us?"

"Dude, you're like the saddest will-they-won't-they there is, we've been taking bets every rehearsal if that's the one where one of you will snap and jump the other right there in front of everyone." Stacie blushed and looked down. She didn't think she was that obvious, and Aubrey had certainly toned down her 'look' since hood night. "It's like the first five seasons of Bones but with less attractive people." Beca had to move to the other side of the table when Stacie punched her arm.

"Aubrey and I are plenty attractive, thank you very much." She huffed with indignation. "It's not just about sex though. I mean, I want to take Aubrey against every possible surface, don't get me wrong. But I've never liked anyone this much. I feel so comfortable around her and when I'm not with her I'm thinking about the next time I'll see her. I love how she makes me feel all the time; she really sees me, not the slutty girl or the dumb hot girl, she sees all of me. She's amazing, Becs."

"Yikes." Beca grimaced but held up her hands when she saw Stacie's embarrassed look. "No, Stace, I'm happy for you. I don't get it, I mean, it's Aubrey. But hey if you're into that whole uptight, control-freak thing, I'm not gonna judge you. How can I help?"

Stacie glared at her but let it go. She knew she wouldn't get Beca and Aubrey to get along right away but she could work something out later, after she had figured out the whole sweeping Aubrey off her feet thing. "I need to find out if she's on the same page as me first; I don't want another hood night disaster. And since you spend a lot of time at her apartment I thought maybe you could spy a little for me? Maybe get Chloe to tell you something?"

"Stace, I don't know. Why don't you just ask Chloe? She's gonna know something's up if I start asking about Aubrey anyway."

"No, I can't tell Chloe. She and Aubrey tell each other everything; she won't be able to keep it from her. Look, if you don't want to help I can…" Beca reached out and covered Stacie's hand with her own, silencing her.

"I'll see what I can find out, okay? But if Chloe gets suspicious I think it's better to let her in on the plan, she might start making assumptions and that could be worse. It's better if we control the message." Stacie nodded and smiled at Beca. "We should get to rehearsal though or Aubrey is going to kill us both."

They gathered their things and started to walk across campus. "I think I can get Chloe to invite Aubrey to dinner with us after rehearsal, maybe I can get her to say something." Stacie nodded. "So do you know how you're going to ask her out once I confirm she's totally into you too?"

Stacie gave a short nervous laugh. "I'm trying not to get my hopes up but… I thought I might sing something for her at the riff-off this weekend."

Beca raised an eyebrow at her. "What the hell is a riff-off?"

Stacie laughed. "You really don't pay attention when Aubrey talks during rehearsals, do you?"

"Nah, I mostly just look at Chloe." She grinned goofily which made Stacie roll her eyes.

When they got to the gym, most of the other girls already there chatting in small groups. Stacie stopped Beca by the door and hugged her. "Thanks for doing this."

Beca returned the hug, albeit a little awkwardly, and smiled reassuringly at the taller girl. "Hey, I know what those older Bellas can do to you."

On the other side of the room, Aubrey motioned over at them. "What's that about?"

"What? Beca and Stacie? I don't know, they're talking." Chloe said with a shrug, looking back down at her bag.

"I know that, but what are they talking about?" Aubrey crossed her arms in front of her chest and tapped her foot.

Chloe looked at her with an amused look. Beca had told her Stacie wanted to grab coffee before rehearsal so she wasn't surprised when she saw them walk in together. "I don't know, Bree, I'm here with you. Maybe you should go over and ask."

"Maybe you should ask your girlfriend." Aubrey glared at her and walked to the center of the room to start their rehearsal.

* * *

"I think that's enough for today." A collective sigh of relief was heard around the room, they'd been running the routine for close to two hours now and everyone was really tired. "Remember the riff-off is this week, I expect you all to be ready. You should study songs from different genres and themes and we'll do some harmonizing exercises Thursday and Friday."

Beca and Stacie exchanged a look. Beca nodded subtly and went over to where Chloe was to tell her about dinner and Stacie went over to Aubrey. "Hey, Bree."

The blonde looked up from her bag and smiled at the brunette. "Hey, Stace."

"I'm sorry about bailing this morning. Let me make it up to you tomorrow? We can run that extra lap you're always trying to get me to do." Stacie smiled sweetly and grabbed Aubrey's hand.

Aubrey could feel her stomach flipping inside of her. She smiled back and narrowed her eyes. "I'll hold you to that."

"I can't wait." She looked at the blonde's hand in hers and ran her thumb over her fingers. "I have to go do some homework, but I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

She dropped Aubrey's hand and turned around to collect her things and go. The blonde watched her, flexing her fingers trying to commit to memory the feeling of Stacie's hand in hers. When the younger girl was gone she sighed and turned to grab her things.

"Hey, Bree, wanna go to dinner?" Chloe asked walking over to her.

Aubrey looked around, she could leave the chairs where they were until tomorrow; she didn't think anyone was using the gym until then. "Umm sure."

Chloe smiled widely and turned to Beca. "Ready, babe?"

Aubrey panicked. She didn't know Beca was coming when she agreed to dinner. She didn't want to spend the whole night with Chloe and Beca having eye-sex and being all cute when all she could think about was having actual sex and being cute with Stacie. "Oh I didn't know she was… I wouldn't want to intrude. I can order something back at the apartment."

"Nonsense, you're not intruding. I want my favorite girls to get along, Bree, please." Chloe pouted at her.

Beca caught up to them and slung her arm around Chloe's shoulder. "Come on, it'll be fun. You can pick the place."

Chloe looked at her like she might cry if she said no and Beca gave her her best friendly smirk. Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Fine, let's go."

Chloe gave an ear piercing squeal and hugged her with her free arm. "This is gonna be so awes!"

They sat at a booth, Aubrey sat first and, surprisingly, Chloe took the seat next to her, leaving Beca to sit across from them. They looked at their menus in silence. Aubrey already knew what she wanted since they came here fairly often, but she looked anyway to give herself something to do while they waited. The waitress brought water and took their orders, taking away Aubrey's excuse for not talking. She looked up at Beca and smiled tentatively.

Noticing the tension between them, Chloe stepped up. "So, Beca, how was your coffee with Stacie?"

"You had coffee with Stacie?" She caught herself and tried to look casual, twirling the straw in her glass of water.

The brunette rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "Umm yeah, we're friends, we do that sometimes." Beca thought maybe this hadn't been such a good idea after all, she needed to get information out of Aubrey, not be interrogated by her.

"Oh." They were interrupted by the waitress bringing the appetizers and Beca sighed.

They talked about random things throughout the meal, Beca would be lying if she said she didn't love the smile Chloe got whenever she and Aubrey found something they had in common, and she could see the blonde finally relaxing around her. The conversation came to a lull when the dessert was served while they sorted out spoons and optimum dessert sharing placement.

"Is Stacie seeing someone?" Aubrey reached out to grab a bite of the brownie they were sharing, focusing intently on the task and not looking at Beca.

Beca smiled and looked at Chloe who just motioned at her to answer. Beca schooled her features and tried to keep the conversation casual. "Umm no, not that I know of, why?"

Aubrey had finally managed to get the piece of brownie, blushing lightly and using the time it took her to chew and swallow to think of an excuse. "I heard one of the Trebles talk about her and I thought she might be breaking the oath."

"Oh, well, I don't think you have to worry about that." Beca winked at Aubrey and the blonde's blush intensified. Beca smiled, confirming her suspicions about Aubrey's feelings for Stacie.

When they got back to their apartment Aubrey excused herself to give the couple some privacy. Beca put her arms around the redhead's shoulders and was about to kiss her when Chloe pushed her back. Beca pouted but Chloe seemed to be deep in thought. "What was that Stacie thing about? What you said about Aubrey not having to worry?"

Beca huffed. She loved Stacie but she'd much rather be making out than talking about her and Aubrey right now. "Stacie already likes someone and it's not a Treble."

Beca leaned in to kiss her and was again pushed back. Chloe looked at her with an expectant look. Beca worried her lower lip. She figured she could tell Chloe the truth and make her promise not to say anything. "You have to promise you won't tell anyone, especially Aubrey."

"Promise." She mimed closing a lock over her mouth and throwing away the key and Beca thought it was adorable.

"It's Aubrey. She wanted me to find out if she liked her so she could ask her out without it blowing up in her face."

Chloe squealed and jumped away from her. "Oh my god! Oh my god! This is so awesome! You have to tell her to do it! Aubrey is so into her it's ridiculous. When is she gonna do it? How is she gonna do it? Oh my god, I have to tell Aubrey!"

Beca grabbed her by her arms and sat her down on the couch shushing her. "Dude, you just promised you wouldn't say anything! Geez!"

"I'm sorry, I know. This is just so" She squealed loudly again and Beca tackled her and covered her mouth with her hand.

"Are you done?" Chloe nodded under her. "Good." Beca took her hand away and replaced it with her mouth. She would make sure she couldn't use her mouth to tell Aubrey anything, at least for now.


	4. Chapter 4

It was the day before the riff-offs. Beca had managed to keep Chloe from telling Aubrey what Stacie was planning. They had met a couple of times so Stacie could prepare a wide range of songs, using Chloe's experience from previous years and Beca's extensive musical knowledge. Aside from the clear message in all of the songs, being prepared for this, Chloe argued, could only increase their chances of winning, making Aubrey more receptive to any proposition she might receive afterwards.

The last couple of rehearsals the girls had been working on harmonizing, which was what they had been doing for the best part of the past two hours. Aubrey could see most of the girls weren't really trying anymore so she decided to end the rehearsal early to everyone's delight.

Stacie moved to gather her things. She was grateful for the weather that still allowed her to wear short shorts and a deep cut shirt when it was almost October. Still, she decided to put on a light jacket for her walk back to her dorm. She looked around and saw Chloe talking to Aubrey, Beca standing next to them with an annoyed face. She didn't think she could be around Aubrey by herself considering what she was planning for next day so she decided to pass on her usual post-rehearsal hang out.

She walked over, intending to tell her she had homework when Chloe turned and grabbed her by the wrists. "Stace, you have to come watch Love Actually with us. Beca lost a bet and she's never watched it and it's my favorite."

She hesitated. Hanging out with Aubrey was exactly the opposite of what she was planning for tonight.

The blonde noticed her hesitation and stepped in. "Please don't leave me alone with these two."

Stacie smiled. "Okay"

When they got to the apartment Aubrey and Chloe went into the kitchen to prepare snacks and drinks leaving Stacie and Beca in the living room. Beca took a seat on her favorite armchair and Stacie flopped down on the loveseat in front of the TV.

Beca grabbed a cushion and tossed it at the other girl. "You ready for tomorrow?"

"I guess. I'm gonna need you to help me gauge her reaction to the songs and tell me if I need to reconsider." She threw the cushion back at Beca.

"I'm sure you'll be good."

They heard the older girls walking back from the kitchen and they stopped talking. Chloe set a tray with wine glasses on the coffee table and sat on Beca's lap, legs hanging from the side of the chair. Aubrey handed her a bowl of popcorn and then stared down at Stacie. "Where am I supposed to sit?"

Stacie smiled and sat up, pulling her feet back to clear the other side of the couch. She waited for Aubrey to get settled and asked for the popcorn bowl scooting back down and draping her legs over the blonde with the popcorn bowl resting on her own stomach. Aubrey raised her eyebrow at her but didn't protest.

Fifteen minutes into the movie, Beca started to get bored which led to her playing with Chloe's hair, which led to her making out with Chloe, which led to Aubrey complaining about having to hear them which led to them retiring to Chloe's room, leaving her and Stacie on their own.

After finishing the popcorn, Stacie set the bowl on the floor, scooting closer to the older girl and turning to face the TV. Aubrey absentmindedly placed her hand on her thigh close to her knee. It was good Stacie had seen this movie multiple times because all she could focus right now was the warm feeling of Aubrey's hand on her leg. She tried not to move lest it made the blonde remove her hand. After a couple of minutes, the older girl started moving her thumb idly along the back of her knee causing the younger girl's breath to hitch. She looked at the TV and calculated there were at least 15 minutes left in the movie. Everything would be fine if she didn't move.

It was proving really hard to control herself. She was trying with all of her might to focus on what Hugh Grant was saying but the hand on her thigh still drawing lazy patterns on her skin was making it incredibly difficult.

Stacie sighed as the credits started. She had made it. Except Aubrey wasn't moving so they were just there watching the credits roll, the blonde's hand still planted on her thigh. After what felt like a long time, she felt the blonde take a deep breath. "Stace."

Stacie turned onto her back to look at the other girl, making the hand on her thigh move, ending up on her knee. The brunette didn't say anything, she waited for the blonde to say something but she seemed to be studying her hand.

When Stacie was almost sure the older girl wasn't going to break the silence, she seemed to make up her mind and turned to look at her. "Would you like to go out with me? Like on a date?"

Stacie's mouth opened and closed a couple of times. She wasn't really thinking about what this meant, she was more focused on how her whole plan was ruined now that Aubrey had asked her out first. "You've got to be kidding me."

"What?" Whatever Aubrey was expecting her to say, that certainly wasn't one of the options.

Stacie sat up. "Shit, I'm sorry. It's just that I was going to ask you out tomorrow after the riff-offs. I had this whole thing planned out."

Aubrey looked at her as if considering if she was telling the truth, after a moment she crossed her arms. "Well I'm sorry if I ruined your plan."

Stacie jumped up and straddled the blonde, placing her hands on her shoulders. "No, Bree, come on, I'm sorry. Ask me again."

She looked at the older girl until she sighed and uncrossed her arms, moving her arms to rest around the brunette's waist. She looked up at her shyly. "Stacie, would you go on a date with me?"

She had barely finished her question when the brunette was already answering. "Yes!"

Stacie looked down at the blonde with a goofy smile. She looked happy and it made Stacie feel like there was a whole rabble of butterflies in her stomach. She bit her lip and ran her fingers down the other girl's jaw, feeling the arms around her waist tighten which brought attention to her position on top of Aubrey.

She looked down, blushing, and made a move to get off Aubrey but she felt a hand on her hip stopping her. The blonde's other hand reached up and tilted her face towards her. The older girl leaned closer to her, sneaking glances at her lips.

Stacie held her breath and leaned down slightly, tilting her head to the side. Their kiss was brief, barely more than a peck. It was nothing like any other kiss Stacie had received. It was tentative, almost like a question, but it was also filled with promise, with all the other kisses that would come after it. It was the perfect first kiss and Stacie took a moment to savor it.

When she opened her eyes, Aubrey was looking up at her questioningly. She smiled in response and felt the blonde relax under her. Taking a blonde lock of hair and twirling it gently, she thought about what she had wanted to say when she had planned to ask Aubrey out.

She felt Aubrey squeeze her hip and she looked up at her. "Hey, what's going on in that genius, pretty head of yours?"

Stacie smiled. "I just wanted you to know that I want to do this right. I haven't dated anyone in a while but I want to be your girlfriend. This isn't about just sex for me."

"This isn't about just sex for me either. Maybe we should take it slow on the physical front." Stacie frowned which made Aubrey chuckle. "I'm not saying we should wait a long time but maybe we shouldn't jump into bed right away."

"I don't know if I can control myself, the hunter's had his eye on you for a while." She smirked and leaned down to kiss Aubrey.

A series of quick kisses turned into a longer kiss. Stacie played with the hairs on the other girl's nape. She didn't deepen the kiss, letting the older girl take the lead. She felt the blonde's tongue graze her lower lip cautiously, her hands moving up and down her back. Her lips parted, allowing the blonde to explore her mouth.

She started to pull back, nipping at Aubrey's lower lip and tugging at it slightly before giving her a quick peck and sitting back. "I'm good with waiting."

She climbed down from Aubrey's lap and snuggled to her side, hugging her waist and resting her head on her shoulder. The blonde wrapped her arm around the brunette's shoulder and laid her cheek on Stacie's head. She played with the younger girl's hair, grazing her shoulder lightly. They sat like this for a while, enjoying the feel of each other.

Stacie turned her head and nuzzled Aubrey's neck, leaving little kisses along the way. "What are we going to tell people?"

Aubrey pulled back and studied the younger girl. "We have to tell Chloe and the midget but we don't have to tell the others yet if you don't want to."

Stacie shook her head. "It's not that I don't want to tell people about us, but maybe it can be just us for a while? I'm not used to being someone's girlfriend; I want to enjoy it for a bit."

Aubrey laughed. "I'm not used to being someone's girlfriend either, but yeah, I'm fine with it being just us for a while."

"And Chloe and Beca."

Aubrey tightened her grip on the younger girl's shoulders and smiled. "And Chloe and Beca."

Stacie pulled back from Aubrey. "I should go, it's late." She stood up and stood in between the blonde's legs, holding her hands and intertwining their fingers. "I'll see you at the riff-offs tomorrow."

Aubrey nodded and pulled her down for a couple of kisses. "Give me a few days to plan our date; I want it to be special."

"Okay." She pulled back and pulled the blonde to her feet. They walked to the door together, their hands still entwined. Aubrey opened the door and Stacie gave her one last kiss, this time taking control and pinning the shorter girl to the door behind her. When she finally pulled back, Aubrey was slightly dazed, leaning on the door for support.

"Bye." Stacie smirked at the blonde and walked away. She looked back when she was a few feet away, smirking when she saw Aubrey still leaning on the door watching her. "Yup, still got it."


	5. Chapter 5

The quad was crowded; it was an unusually warm day for October, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the sun was shining brightly. Stacie had to walk around people scattered on the grass to make her way across. It was in days like this that she hated crossing campus between classes because it made her want to skip class, wear a skimpy outfit, and work on her tan. She rearranged her book bag on her shoulder and looked at the guys from the quidditch club, she laughed when two of them collided and fell on the grass in a tangle of limbs and brooms.

“Stace!” She turned and saw Aubrey saying goodbye to a couple of people and walking up to her. “Hey, where are you going?”

“Chem, it’s my last class of the day.” She motioned with her head to the general direction of her class.

“Mind if I walk with you?” Stacie smiled at her and shook her head starting to walk again.

“So... I was wondering if you were free tonight.” Aubrey walked close to her, their hands brushing. Aubrey didn’t know why she was so nervous about asking Stacie, she had already said she’d go out with her but she could feel her stomach turning. They hadn’t seen each other outside of rehearsal since Aubrey has asked her out the previous week. Stacie had tried to hang out with her but she had sent her away, telling her that pre-first date hang outs could turn into dates and could ruin their perfect first date.

Stacie didn’t really care that much about having a perfect first date but she knew it was important for Aubrey so she didn’t push it. “I gotta check my calendar but I’m sure I can squeeze you in.” Stacie winked at her.

“Jerk.” Aubrey bumped her shoulder. “I’ll pick you up at your dorm room at 8?”

“Okay. I hope my Bellas captain lets me leave rehearsal early enough to get ready.” They had reached the building where her class was, stopping on the side of it to avoid the people walking in and out.

“I’m sure that if you ask nicely enough she will.” Aubrey stepped as close as she could be to Stacie without actually touching her.

Stacie smirked and leaned down close to the blonde’s ear. “Maybe I can promise her some extra cardio.” She stepped back and bit her lip, looking at the girl blushing furiously in front of her.

“I’ll see you later.” She gave her a quick peck and ran into the building.

* * *

“Okay guys, 5 minute break and then we run it again.” There was a chorus of groans behind her and the sound of people dropping to the floor to rest. She went to the side of the room to get her water bottle. When she turned she was surprised to see Stacie lying on the floor with her arm raised, her index finger moving up and down. “You want to ask something, Stace?”

Stacie dropped her arm with a heavy thud and leaned up on her elbows. “May I be excused? I have a date later and I need a long hot shower.”

Aubrey was glad her cheeks were already flushed from their rehearsal. “Umm… sure Stace, you can go.”

“What?” Fat Amy yelled from the floor. “She has dates all the time, why does she get to go? I could get a date too!”

Aubrey rolled her eyes. She knew this was coming but it gave her an excuse to leave too without making it obvious. “Fine, everyone can go. But we need to start really making an effort, regionals are getting close.”

The girls grumbled a response and slowly started to get up and leave. Aubrey turned back to gather her things.

“So… big date tonight?” Aubrey was startled. She quickly turned and looked around to see if any of the Bellas were close enough to hear but most of them had cleared out and the rest were far enough to be out of earshot.

Beca stood in front of her trying her best to look innocent. “What do you want, Mitchell?”

“Listen, Aubrey.” She ran her hand through her hair nervously. “I know I’m a difficult person, and I’d really like us to get along some day, but I’m not close to a lot of people and Stacie is a really good person, she’s way more sensitive that she lets on. So… please don’t hurt her. I don’t want to have to sucker punch my girlfriend’s best friend.”

Aubrey raised one of her eyebrows at Beca; she was really surprised by this. While she was not too fond of getting threatened, she was glad there was someone who cared enough about Stacie to do this. She respected someone who stood up for their friends. She smiled and stretched her hand out. “I’ll do my best.”

Beca looked surprised but shook the offered hand. When she tried to pull back she found her hand trapped by Aubrey’s strong grip. “And I’m sure you weren’t planning on it, but if you do something to Chloe I will end you.”

Beca laughed nervously. “Nope, not in my plans.”

Aubrey let go of her hand and smiled sweetly “Good.” She turned around and walked away “See you tomorrow, hobbit.”

* * *

There was a loud knock on the door. Stacie stuck her head out of the bathroom door and yelled it was open. She went back to putting on makeup and smiled at the blonde’s reflection in the mirror. Her smile widened when she noticed Aubrey checking her out. The older girl blushed when she noticed she’d been caught. “I’m almost done. You can wait in there if you want.”

Stacie finished her make-up, made sure there weren’t any stray curls on her head and walked into her room. Aubrey had her back to her, looking at the board she had on top of her desk. It was scattered with pictures, concert tickets, and notes. She walked up to Aubrey and stood beside her. Aubrey turned to look at her and smiled. “I don’t think I’ve ever been in here.”

Aubrey reached out and straightened out a picture of 10 year old Stacie sticking tongue out and a Burmese python around her neck. “You look cute in that one.”

Stacie chuckled. “Yeah, they took us on a field trip to a farm and they had these huge snakes. No one else wanted to touch them but I just had to.”

Aubrey let go of the picture and turned to Stacie grabbing her hand. “Ready?”

Stacie nodded. Aubrey walked her down to her car and opened the door for her. Stacie got in and stopped the door when Aubrey tried to close it. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” Aubrey winked and closed the car door.

Aubrey drove in silence. Stacie tried to figure out where they were going but she didn’t know the city well enough yet so after a while she gave up. She fiddled with the radio until she found something she liked and sat back. “Are we going far?”

Aubrey looked at her for a second before focusing back on the road. “Nope, we’re almost there.”

They drove up a hill and parked at the end of a trail next to a couple more cars. Aubrey turned off the car and looked at Stacie excitedly. “Come on, I just gotta get something from the trunk.”

Stacie got out of the car and walked towards the trail. She couldn’t hear anything except for crickets. There weren’t any lights around and she couldn’t really see more than a few feet in front of her. She heard Aubrey walk around the car and she turned to look at her. “Where are we?”

“It’s a park. We’re just going up ahead.” Aubrey took out a flashlight and took Stacie’s hand, leading her to the path. Stacie looked around nervously. “It’s perfectly safe, there’s park security around and there will be more people when we get up there.”

Aubrey squeezed Stacie’s hand reassuringly and smiled. The brunette smiled back and followed Aubrey up the path. After a couple of minutes they came out to field ending in a cliff overlooking the city. They could see small groups of people around, but the place was big enough so that they weren’t too close. Stacie smiled and skipped closer to the edge. “You can see the whole city from here! Where’s Barden?”

Aubrey smiled at Stacie’s excitement and pointed a little bit to the left. “Down there.”

Stacie looked at the city a while longer and then turned to Aubrey. “This is awesome, Bree.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool, but it’s not what we’re here for.” She pulled her back away from the edge and dropped the duffel bag on the ground. Kneeling down, she started taking things out of it, starting with a blanket that she spread on the grass. When she was satisfied with the blanket placement she sat down and looked at Stacie.

Stacie smiled at her and sat down next to her. “What are we here for then?”

“You’ll see!” She turned to the duffel bag and took out a couple of juice boxes. “Apple or grape?”

Stacie looked at her mockingly. Aubrey rolled her eyes. “You’re not old enough to drink and I have to drive back. Plus, juice boxes are easy to carry around. Now, pick one.”

Stacie laughed. “Apple.” She caught the juice box Aubrey tossed at her and stabbed the straw into it expertly. She took a sip and hummed contentedly. “This is really good.”

“Shut up.” Aubrey pouted and stretched herself on the blanket, occasionally drinking from her juice box and looking at Stacie who just grinned at her with the straw in her mouth. She couldn’t help but smile at how adorable she looked and finally rolled her eyes and patted the space next to her. “You have to lie down for this.”

Aubrey turned off the flashlight and Stacie beamed. “Ooh I like horizontal activities in the dark.” She scooted close to her and looked up.

“Whoa! The sky looks amazing here. Look!” She pointed her finger to the right. “See that star over there?” She felt Aubrey nod her head. “If you draw a line from that to here and a loop down here, that’s Aquarius. The star I pointed out first is called Sadalsuud, it comes from an Arabic expression meaning the luckiest of lucky stars. It’s my favorite star.”

Aubrey had a huge smile on her face. She knew how much Stacie liked stars so she’d dropped by the Astronomy department and asked about the best place to stargaze. She’d had a lucky break when the geeky doctoral student she’d found told her about an event happening tonight. According to him, they should see something any minute now. Aubrey reached out and grabbed Stacie’s hand. The brunette squeezed it and snaked her arm behind her, pulling her closer to her side.

Stacie looked at the blonde next to her. She was starting to appreciate the importance of the perfect first date. Aubrey looked at her and blushed at the other girl’s expression. She poked her cheek lightly. “Look up.”

When she was satisfied the other girl was focused on the sky, she snuggled closer to her side, draping her arm across her waist. After a couple of minutes she felt Stacie tense under her. “Did you see that?”

“What?” Aubrey chuckled at the childlike excitement on Stacie’s voice.

A tiny streak of light crossed the sky and Stacie pointed. “That!”

Aubrey cleared her throat trying to remember what the doctoral student had told her. “That was a meteor from the Draconid meteor shower. It’s one of the only ones that happen in the evening instead of before dawn. Apparently it’s not one of the bigger ones but we should see a fair number of meteors.”

Stacie looked at her incredulously. “What? I did some research. Keep looking up.”

“You’re amazing.” Stacie gave her a quick kiss on the check and looked back up, her smile growing with every falling meteor. She took the hand on her stomach and intertwined their fingers.

After a while the meteor shower started to wind down. She felt Aubrey stretch against her and then she tucked her head under her chin. She lifted their joined hands and started playing with the blonde’s fingers. Despite this technically being a first date, she felt completely comfortable with the girl next to her.

Aubrey shifted and lifter her head up leaning on her elbow. “Why do you like stars so much?”

Stacie looked at her and then looked back up. “My dad used to take me to the field behind our house with his telescope. I don’t know if he knew or if he studied right before we went.” Stacie chuckled. “But he’d teach me a different constellation each time, the name of its stars, how many planets were in it... I had those glow in the dark star stickers on my ceiling and I was obsessed with them being accurately placed.”

Aubrey knew Stacie’s father had died when she was younger. She rarely talked about him but she could tell they were really close. She squeezed her hand and she continued. “After he died I used to go out to the field by myself, sometimes I’d stay out all night. It made me feel closer to him.”

She turned to look at Aubrey, unshed tears shining in her eyes. She reached up and cupped her cheek. “Thank you for this, it was perfect.”

Aubrey leaned down and kissed her softly. “I’m glad you liked it.”

She snuggled back close to her and hugged her tightly before turning on her back and pointing at a random place in the sky. “What’s that star?”

* * *

Aubrey took Stacie’s hand and walked her to her door. She could feel her stomach flipping nervously which made her feel ridiculous. They had already kissed multiple times yet the thought of kissing Stacie goodnight made her giddy. They got to Stacie’s door and she turned to face her.

“This is me.” Stacie chuckled nervously and the knot in her stomach loosened up some seeing she was nervous too.

“I know, I picked you up.” Stacie blushed and looked down laughing at herself. She bit her lip and looked at Aubrey, making her heartrate accelerate.

“I had a really good time tonight.” She took a step closer to the blonde. Aubrey could feel the air thicken around her; being this close to Stacie was different than when they were snuggled looking at the stars, every single nerve ending in her body seemed to be on alert. She took a shallow breath and placed her hands on Stacie’s hips, pulling her closer still and bringing their lips together. It started out slow but it quickly got more intense. Aubrey bit Stacie’s lower lip and she heard her moan into her mouth, sending a shiver through her body. Stacie’s height advantage made it easy for her to take control of the kiss. She pressed her against the door and slowed the kiss down again, pulling back slowly, giving her a couple final pecks.

She pressed their foreheads together trying to normalize her breathing. “Slow.”

Aubrey’s brain was too foggy to understand what Stacie was saying. After a few deep breaths, the brunette tried to speak again. “We’re taking it slow.”

Aubrey nodded. “Yes, slow.” She swallowed. “Slow.”

She pushed away from the door causing Stacie to step back to let her through. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She gave her a final, soft kiss and walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Draconid meteor shower is a real thing, you can see it in the northern hemisphere around the beginning of October every year so if you can you should check it out.


	6. Chapter 6

Aubrey ran her fingers over Stacie’s abdomen. She was on her side studying the younger girl, the afternoon sun coming in through the window and making the auburn in her hair stand out. One of her arms was stretched out under Aubrey’s head, the other one resting on her thigh under the sheet. Her lips were slightly parted, slow even breaths coming in and out. Aubrey fought the urge to kiss her, afraid it might wake her.

They had managed to wait until their fourth date to have sex. She wasn’t sure getting blood tests counted as a third date but Stacie insisted it did. Aubrey still teased her, comparing her idea of a date – star gazing – to Stacie’s – getting stabbed in the arm by a nurse at the student clinic. Stacie always rolled her eyes and said that starting clean included a clean bill of health, and she did take her for ice cream afterwards.

She lightly ran her finger along her cheek, connecting the two moles on the right side. She traced her jawline and stopped at the dimple on her chin. She continued down her neck and sternum, finishing on her belly button and resting her palm against her perfectly formed abs; her hand rising and falling in time with Stacie’s breaths. She scooted closer and pressed a soft kiss on the other girl’s lips. She pulled back and waited. Stacie blinked her eyes sleepily, smiling when she spotted the girl hovering over her. As much as Aubrey liked watching Stacie sleep, she loved looking into her eyes. She loved how green they looked in the light and how dark they could get right before she kissed her. She loved how they lit up when she was excited about something and the little lines around them when she smiled.

Stacie wrapped her arms around her and pulled her closer. “You’re staring again.”

“Have you seen yourself? Can you blame me?” Stacie smiled and lifted her head to kiss her.

“Well you’re the one who wasted your nap, so no complaining when you’re too tired later during rehearsal.”

Aubrey groaned. “We should really get ready for rehearsal.”

Stacie grinned and rubbed their noses together, causing the other girl to smile. “Can’t we skip rehearsal? We can stay in bed, do more fun things, start our weekend right.”

Aubrey laughed. “It’s Thursday, we can’t start our weekend yet. And you know we can’t skip rehearsal, we barely beat the Sockapellas. We need to work harder if we’re gonna get to the finals.”

Stacie pouted but nodded. “Fine, we’ll go to rehearsal.” She flipped them over making Aubrey squeal. “After a quickie.”

She leaned down to kiss her, pressing her hips down causing Aubrey to moan. A loud knock interrupted her from going further. They heard Chloe’s voice through the door. “You guys need to stop that if we’re going to get to rehearsal on time!”

Stacie looked at the door annoyed then grinned wickedly and yelled. “Five minutes!”

* * *

The Bellas had the choreography pretty much perfected now, but there was always room for improvement. Aubrey took turns with Chloe going around the room and looking for things anyone might be doing wrong. “Arms higher, Beca.” The DJ flipped her off but raised her arms higher on the next run.

She stood on the front and watched the whole group. She felt there was something off but she really couldn’t identify what. “Guys, can you start again?”

The girls started again and Aubrey looked at each one. She couldn’t find a problem until she got to Stacie; her arms were slightly off sync with the other girls. She looked at her a second longer and then walked to her to correct her. “Babe, you’re doing it wrong.” She stood behind her and pushed her arm up. “You have to push this one up a bit.”

Usually, when Aubrey corrected someone, the rest kept running the routine but everyone stopped immediately when the word ‘babe’ came out of Aubrey’s mouth, including Stacie who was frozen with her arms up and her mouth in an ‘O’ and a deep blush covering her face. Aubrey walked out from behind Stacie and noticed everyone looking at them, most of them with shocked faces, Beca with a smirk and Chloe biting her lip to keep from laughing. “Why did you stop?”

The other girls exchanged incredulous glances and Beca chuckled. “Dude, you just called her babe.”

“Umm, I…” She looked at Stacie who was now biting her thumb nail nervously, she nodded and shrugged subtly. “Yeah, I guess I did.”

An excited murmur went around the room. Amy was the first to recover. “Wait, so you and legs here are doing the horizontal dingo dance?”

“Man, that’s hot.” CR looked at them both and nodded.

“I told you I saw them making out behind the science building like a month ago.” Lily whispered.

They looked at Lily trying to figure out what she said and then Aubrey shook her head and took a step forward. “Okay! Yes, Stacie and I are in a relationship but it has nothing to do with you or the Bellas so can we get back to rehearsing?”

Amy spoke from the side of her mouth. “I bet they do a lot of private rehearsing.”

Aubrey glared at her. Stacie stepped up to the blonde and hugged her from behind, resting her chin on her shoulder. “I don’t think they’re going to be able to focus on rehearsal now, babe.”

Aubrey was still glaring at the other girls but she leaned back into the embrace and placed her hand on top of Stacie’s arm. Amy, who had retreated in fear of Aubrey’s gaze, smirked when she noticed the blonde’s reaction and whispered to Beca. “She’s like a crocodile whisperer.”

“I know, dude, it’s scary. She’s the only thing between us and the nuclear apocalypse.” Beca whispered with awe. “Our lives depend on those arms.”

“I think you mean those fingers.” CR whispered from behind them and they all laughed.

Stacie whispered something in Aubrey’s ear and her expression softened. She turned and kissed Stacie’s cheek before stepping away from her. “Alright, that’s it for today. We’ll start with cardio tomorrow so be ready.”

Fat Amy and CR walked up to Stacie. “So, how long have you and the blonde in charge been together?”

“Umm since the riff-off?” Stacie shrugged and put on a sweatshirt.

“I don’t know how you kept it quiet, if I was tapping that I’d have t-shirts made.” CR chuckled and Stacie looked at Aubrey nodding. She winked at them and walked over to Aubrey who was standing by the bleachers talking to Chloe and Jessica. She pushed her down onto the nearest seat and straddled her, kissing her passionately while the other girls cat called and clapped. After a while, Stacie stopped the kiss with a loud smack. Aubrey’s cheeks were bright red and she had a glazed look on her face.

“Just wanted to get that out of the way.” Stacie smiled and got off the blonde. She took a vow, earning more cheers from the rest of the girls.

Aubrey stood up and grabbed her by the wrist taking her to where her bag was. “Get your stuff, we’re leaving now.”

She barely had time to shove all her things in her bag before Aubrey was dragging her out. She looked back and winked at the rest of the girls who just stared at them with their mouths open.

* * *

“Hey, babe.” Stacie yelled as she entered the apartment. She walked into the kitchen and dropped her keys and the bags from the grocery store. She heard Aubrey’s lazy response over the sound of the television and smiled. She started taking the food out of the bags, placing the bottle of champagne in the fridge, and rearranged everything on the counter. She heard the door of the kitchen swing open and felt Aubrey hugging her from behind.

“What is all this?” Aubrey squeezed her and kissed her shoulder.

 “Well, since Chloe is going to Beca’s dad’s for dinner I thought I could make something for us to eat.” She felt Aubrey’s arms tighten around her waist. “I promise I won’t burn anything this time. I’m making a salad; I won’t go near the stove.”

Aubrey chuckled. “Good.”

She gave Stacie another squeeze and walked over to the fridge to get some water. “Is that champagne for us?”

Stacie blushed. “Yeah, I wanted tonight to be special.”

“Stace, is this because it’s our four month anniversary?” Stacie looked down. She hadn’t had a relationship long enough to celebrate anything so she tried to do something special for Aubrey every month. Aubrey thought it was cute. She walked up to Stacie and tilted her chin up. She kissed her softly. “Well, I’m glad you remembered because I got something for you.”

Stacie smiled at her and Aubrey gave her one quick kiss before walking out of the kitchen. Stacie started preparing the salad. She knew it was unusual to make a huge deal about being together for only four months but she had never been this comfortable and happy with someone else.

Aubrey came back into the kitchen holding something behind her back.

“Since you’re going home for spring break, I thought you could have something to keep you company at night.” She took out a teddy bear from behind her, holding it out to Stacie and biting her lip nervously. Stacie looked at the bear and then up at her, a huge smile on her face.

“He’s so cute, Aubs, thank you!” She took the bear and hugged it to her chest. “He’s going to have to sleep with us until then so he smells like you.”

Aubrey gasped and dramatically covered the bear’s ears, talking in a stage whisper. “He can’t sleep with us; he’ll see us having sex.”

Stacie chuckled. “Fine, he can stay in the living room and we can cuddle with him while we watch TV.”

Aubrey smiled and kissed her. “I’ll help you set the table.”

* * *

It was the weekend before semifinals and Aubrey was so nervous Stacie could feel her own stomach contents threatening to return. She had suggested they take a walk after their grueling 5 hour Saturday rehearsal so they could maybe relax a little. Aubrey had grumbled her reply and absentmindedly let herself be led around campus. Stacie took them down to a park with a beautiful duck pond. She noticed some leaves starting to grow on the bare trees surrounding the pond and smiled; she had always loved that moment when spring was about to start and life started waking up. They walked up to the edge of the pond and stopped, Stacie hugging Aubrey from behind. She squeezed her tight and Aubrey let out a small sob.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Stacie turned her around a wiped her tears.

Aubrey looked up, trying to control herself. She took a few deep breaths and squeezed her lips tight, a few more tears running down her cheeks. “What if we don’t make it, Stace?”

“Hey, it’s okay. We’re going to make it.” She kissed Aubrey’s forehead and brushed her thumbs across her cheeks again. “We’ve got this, Bree, and it’s all because of you. You made the Bellas what they are today. I’m so proud of you, babe.”

Aubrey hugged her tight, grabbing fistfuls of Stacie’s jacket, and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to control her tears. Stacie ran her hands up and down her back, whispering comfortingly into her ear. After a couple of minutes she took a few deep breaths and sighed, her grip on the brunette’s jacket relaxing. She buried her face in the crook of Stacie’s neck and pressed a featherlight kiss there. “I love you.”

Stacie froze. It hadn’t been more than a whisper, if Aubrey’s mouth hadn’t been so close to her ear she wouldn’t have heard it. But she did. She felt a mixture of elation and dread filling up her chest. No one had ever told her she loved her. At least not in that way; a way that made her have no doubt about how much Aubrey meant it. She felt tears stinging in her eyes as she squeezed Aubrey and whispered. “I love you too.”


	7. Chapter 7

“What the hell, Beca?” Aubrey stormed after the shorter girl. “Were you trying to screw us up?”

Beca turned toward her incredulously. “Are you serious?”

“Newsflash: this isn’t the Beca show.”

“Okay, I’m sorry that I messed you up but, in case you hadn’t noticed, everyone pretty much dozed off during our set.”

Stacie stepped between Beca and Aubrey. “Aubrey, lay off.”

Aubrey glared at her. “Stay out of it, Stacie.”

Stacie crossed her arms in front of her chest. “No, we’re a team.”

Beca pulled Stacie’s arm. “Stacie, it’s okay.”

“No, Beca, it’s not.” She turned to Aubrey and stood her ground. “She was just trying to help.”

 “By changing the set in the middle of our performance? It’s not your job to decide what we do and when we do it. I told you she wasn’t a Bella.”

Stacie “Aubrey, don’t – “

Beca grabbed Stacie’s arm again and pulled harder. “Stacie you really need to stop.”

“Your attitude sucks, you’re a grade A pain in my ass and I only put up with you for Chloe and Stacie.”

Beca stepped up from behind Stacie angrily. “You put up with me? You know what, Aubrey? I tried so hard to like you and help the Bellas. I tried for Chloe, I tried for Stacie, but if this is what I get for trying.” Beca walked away. Both Chloe and Stacie turned to follow her.

“Stacie, I swear, if you go after her –”

“What, Aubrey? You’ll what?” Aubrey just stood there looking at her without saying anything. Stacie turned and ran after Chloe and Beca.

* * *

Aubrey opened the door and found Stacie standing on the other side. Aubrey knew they had to do this eventually but she hadn’t cooled off enough to talk about it yet, the sting of not making it to the finals still too fresh. “What are you doing here?”

Stacie rolled her eyes and walked past her and down the hall. Aubrey followed her to her room and closed the door behind her. “I figured we should talk about what happened.”

“What happened was that your idiot best friend just cost us the entire competition.”

Stacie huffed and flopped down on Aubrey’s bed looking at the ceiling, her legs dangling from the edge. “Are you seriously going to blame this on Beca?”

“She changed the set!” Aubrey threw her arms up and started pacing in front of the bed, throwing glares at Stacie every time she turned.

“Yeah, and it was selfish and stupid but I’m pretty sure that’s not why we didn’t win.”

Aubrey couldn’t believe Stacie was taking Beca’s side on this, she knew how important this was for her. “So you agree with what she did?”

Stacie sat up and leaned on her elbows looking bored. “I just don’t think it’s such a big deal!”

Aubrey stopped. “You don’t think it’s a big deal that we lost?”

“It could have been worse.” She shrugged and sat up.

“This was my only chance, Stacie. I was going to redeem myself and get to the finals and win.” Aubrey stopped pacing and ran her hand through her hair.

“Well you didn’t, get over it.” Aubrey gasped. “There are more important things in life than winning, Aubrey, and if you can’t see that then I don’t know what we’re doing together.”

Aubrey laughed. “You’re breaking up with me?”

“I didn’t say that.” Stacie stood up and walked to where Aubrey was standing. The blonde stepped away from her holding her hands up.

“No, but that’s what you want, right? I’m a winning obsessed, controlling bitch. Who would want to be with someone like that?” Aubrey wiped furiously at her eyes.

Stacie grabbed her by the wrists and pulled her hands away from her face. “Aubrey stop, I didn’t say that!”

Aubrey pulled away and turned around. “You’re right, Stacie; it wasn’t Beca’s fault we lost, it was mine. I let myself get distracted by you when I should have been focused on the Bellas.” Her voice was calm but Stacie could see the tension in her shoulders. “I shouldn’t have started this, it was a mistake.”

She wiped her eyes and turned back around to face Stacie. Stacie clenched her jaw. “So that’s it then? We’re done?”

Aubrey nodded sadly. Stacie stepped up to her and Aubrey didn’t know if she was going to kiss her or slap her. Stacie seemed to be debating this as well and ended up just touching her arm lightly before turning. She stopped when she got to the door. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

Aubrey broke down when she heard the front door slam; she collapsed on the floor in a crying heap. She didn’t know for how long she lay there crying but the cold floor felt good against her warm cheeks. She felt someone pick her up and looked up to find Chloe’s blue eyes looking down at her. She grabbed on to her neck and sobbed. Chloe rubbed her back and helped her up to the bed. Aubrey looked at her surprised, trying to stop crying long enough to talk. “You’re not mad at me?”

“I am, sweetie, but you need me right now so it can wait.” She got on the bed next to Aubrey and held her. Aubrey laid her head on her shoulder and cried.

Chloe rubbed Aubrey’s back until her sobs subsided, her head resting on top of the blonde’s. She didn’t say anything, she had heard the fight and knew that saying something now would only make Aubrey mad.

“She’s gone.” Aubrey’s voice was low and raspy from all the crying.

“I know. I heard.” Chloe turned and placed a kiss on top of Aubrey’s head.

* * *

“Stace?” Beca tried the door and was surprised when it opened. “Stacie? Chloe texted me, she heard what happened with Aubrey and – whoa.”

Stacie was lying on the floor in her underwear, a bottle of vodka in one hand and a lighter in the other one. She kept flicking the lighter on every few seconds. A trash can filled with half burnt pieces of paper was on the floor next to her.

“Stacie, what the hell are you doing?” Beca kneeled down next to her. “And why aren’t you wearing any clothes.”

“They were flammable.” Stacie didn’t turn to look at her, she just took a swig off the bottle and kept flicking the lighter on.

“Okay… Do you think that maybe you could put on some clothes, and maybe put down the lighter, so we can talk?” She held out her hand and Stacie looked at it for a second before turning back towards the ceiling.

“I don’t really feel like talking right now, Becs.” She flicked the lighter again, Beca’s outstretched hand was a little too close to the flame making her jump back.

“Alright, we don’t have to talk.” Beca got down on the floor next to her. When Stacie took another drink from the bottle, she stretched out her hand asking for it. She took a small drink, coughing as soon as the alcohol reached her throat. She passed the bottle back to Stacie and waited.

“I don’t understand what happened.” Stacie said after a while. Beca turned to her side and watched as Stacie took another drink from the bottle, amazed by the fact that she didn’t even wince when she swallowed.

“We’ve fought before but never like this. It was always stupid stuff, and I thought maybe this was stupid too. I thought we would talk and have make up sex and it would be okay.” Stacie looked at her for the first time since she came in. Her eyes glossed over from the booze and tears. “It was supposed to be okay. I love her.”

Beca sighed. “She loves you too, Stace. She’s just upset because we lost and it meant a lot to her.”

Stacie scoffed. “Why are you defending her after what she said?”

“Oh I’m not defending her, I’d tell you to forget her ass and move on in a second if I didn’t know how happy she makes you. And you make her happy too, she’s just the most stubborn human being on earth.” Beca poked Stacie lightly on the arm. “Just give her time, she’ll come back.”

“I don’t know if I want her to come back, or if she would even come back. We both acted like jerks. I should’ve been more sympathetic about losing, I knew how important it was for her.” Stacie turned away again and bit her lip.

Beca exhaled loudly. “I’m sorry, Stace. None of this would’ve happened if I hadn’t changed the set in the middle of the performance like that.”

“Yeah, that was really stupid.” Stacie reached out and gave Beca’s hand a quick squeeze. “But you didn’t make us say what we said.”

They lay there on the floor, staring at the ceiling in silence for a while, the only sound was the flicking of the lighter and the swish of the liquid whenever Stacie moved the bottle to her lips. Beca’s back started to hurt and she sat up. She looked into the trash can next to her. “What were you burning?”

Stacie shrugged. “I wrote Aubrey’s name and I tried to burn it but the fire alarm started beeping so I had to stop.” Beca raised her eyebrow at her. “It’s supposed to be cathartic, I don’t know, I read itin a magazine or something.”

* * *

Aubrey disentangled herself from Chloe. She had fallen asleep at some point and she guessed Chloe hadn’t wanted to wake her so she stayed. She successfully moved Chloe gently to a more comfortable position without waking her and covered her with the sheets. Her throat was dry from all the crying and her face felt sticky. She went into the bathroom and washed her face. Her eyes were swollen but she had managed to remove most of the smeared makeup.

She went into the kitchen to get some water, her hand lingering on the carton of apple juice she kept there for Stacie. She sighed and went into the living room. She didn’t feel like going back to bed yet so she sat on the couch and turned on the TV not really paying attention to what was on. She leaned back on the couch and felt something. She reached behind her and pulled out the teddy bear she had given Stacie a few weeks ago.

“Hey, Pho.” Stacie had named the bear after Mars’ moon Phobos. Aubrey hugged the bear to her chest and inhaled. He still smelled a little like Stacie from when they cuddled on the couch a couple of nights ago. “I feel so lost. I don’t have the Bellas or Stacie anymore. I don’t even know how to start fixing it, or if I want to fix it.”

She hugged her knees to her chest, crushing the bear against her body. She cried silently, wiping her eyes on her knees. She didn’t understand how she could still cry after the hours she had spent crying on Chloe’s shoulder. She felt exhausted, the emotional day she had had finally taking its toll. She turned off the television and decided to stay on the couch for the night. She stretched on the couch and turned on her side. Maybe when she woke up she’d find out it had all just been a bad dream.

* * *

“Hey, Bree.” Chloe popped her head into Aubrey’s room. Aubrey mumbled a response without looking up; she was on her desk working on something for a class. “Umm… Stacie asked if she could come pick up some of her stuff tomorrow before she leaves for spring break.”

Aubrey’s hand stilled, the grip on her pen tightening and making her knuckles turn white. “Yeah, sure, she can come anytime.”

Chloe looked at her concerned. She knew that the mismatch between her tone and her body language meant that she was trying really hard to control herself. She shook her head sadly and turned to leave.

“H-how is she?” Chloe stopped and turned back. The crack on Aubrey’s voice breaking her heart.

“I don’t know, Bree, I haven’t seen her. She texted me.” Chloe felt bad about not telling Aubrey the whole truth. She hadn’t seen Stacie, but she knew from Beca she was a mess and a half. Apparently, while Aubrey threw herself into her schoolwork, Stacie’s way of coping was drinking herself into oblivion. She didn’t think she had gone back to sleeping with half the student body yet, but she figured Aubrey was better off not knowing any of it.

“Oh, okay.” Aubrey went back to writing and Chloe knew she wasn’t going to get anything else from her.

Aubrey got a box and started packing Stacie’s things. She tried not to think too much about what she was doing but it was too hard. Every single thing she put in the box reminded her of Stacie and how much she loved her. She grabbed the physics book from her desk and put it in the box. She thought about Stacie studying for her physics midterm a couple of weeks ago, how focused she was, how she’d chew on the back of her pencil, furrowing her brow in the cutest way. After a while, Stacie had threatened to go to the library if she didn’t stop looking at her like she wanted to eat her up. Aubrey had laughed and turned away, occasionally getting up to refill Stacie’s coffee or for what Stacie called make-out breaks.

Aubrey took one last look around her room and set the box on the floor. Her eyes fell on the teddy bear on her bed. Ever since they broke up Aubrey had been sleeping with him. It was a poor substitute for Stacie but she’d take what she could get. She took the bear and sat on the bed with the box at her feet. “I’m not ready to let her go.”

She placed the bear on the top of the box and waited. Chloe hadn’t said what time Stacie would be there, she just hoped it was before her sociology class. She’d skip it but she had to turn in a paper.

She thought about what she would say to Stacie. She knew she had to apologize about calling them a mistake, she hadn’t meant it. If anything, Stacie was the one thing that kept her from completely losing it. She was supportive and sweet and her smile could make her forget almost anything.

She sighed. Yes, she had some things to apologize for but she was still hurt about some of the things Stacie had said and about the fact that she picked Beca over her. But if Stacie apologized she would forgive her in a heartbeat. She hated not being with her when she knew they could work it out.

Her alarm sounded. She had to leave for class now if she wanted to make it in time. She walked to the door and put on her shoes. “Chlo! I have class, if Stacie comes can you tell her to wait for me?”

Chloe came out of the kitchen with her eyebrow raised at Aubrey’s cheery tone. “Sure, Bree.”

“Thanks!” Aubrey kissed her cheek and left.

Less than an hour after Aubrey had left there was a knock on the door. Chloe opened the door to find Stacie on the other side. She didn’t look any different, her hair and nails were immaculate as always, she was wearing a low cut shirt and skinny jeans. The only noticeable differences were the slight redness around her eyes and that her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Hey, Stace, come in. Aubrey had class.” Stacie nodded and Chloe thought she might have come at this time to avoid seeing her.

She walked Stacie to Aubrey’s room and pointed at the box on the bed. “I think everything’s in that box but you can look around and see if she missed something.”

Stacie walked to the bed. She tilted the box with one finger, she really only needed her physics book. She saw the bear on top and took it out with a small smile. She hugged him to her chest and inhaled, the scent of Aubrey invading her senses and filling her eyes with tears. She took the bear and placed it on the bed next to the pillows. She couldn’t take it with her. She wiped her tears and grabbed the box, walking out of Aubrey’s room and into the living room where Chloe was waiting.

“Here.” She reached into her pocket and handed her a key.

Chloe took the key and gave her a little smile. “Aubrey asked me if you could wait for her to come back, she shouldn’t take more than an hour.”

Stacie opened her mouth, she could feel hope rising up and fighting her drunken stupor but she pushed it down. If Aubrey had wanted to talk to her she would’ve waited for her or called her or gone to her dorm. “I can’t, I have to finish packing and get to the airport.”

“Oh, okay. Are you sure?” Stacie pressed her lips closed firmly and nodded. She wanted to say no and stay and fight for Aubrey but she couldn’t. She’d been waiting for Aubrey to reach out for a week and tell her it had all been a mistake and take her back but nothing had happened. She couldn’t take being disappointed again and there was a chance Aubrey didn’t want to talk about getting back together. She shifted the box to her other side and walked out.

A while later the door opened loudly and Aubrey came in running. “Did she come? Is she here?”

“Sweetie–“ Chloe stood up from the couch and grabbed her arm

“What?” Aubrey pulled away from Chloe and ran to her room. The box was gone, the only thing left was the teddy bear, carefully placed on the pillow. She stood holding on to the door jamb trying to catch her breath.

“She said she had to get to the airport.” She put her hand on Aubrey’s arm.

Aubrey nodded, her inability to catch her breath had little to do with the fact she ran all the way from class now. “It’s okay. I’m okay. I don’t know why I thought she’d want to… I’m okay.”

She gave Chloe a reassuring smile and walked into the room, closing the door behind her. She took the bear from the bed.

“What am I going to do now?” She sat on the bed staring into the bear’s eyes as if it knew the answer. She got in bed, her hand holding the bear dangling over the side. She opened her hand and it landed on the floor soundlessly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to yell at me in the comments or on tumblr (strange-and-lonely)


	8. Chapter 8

Aubrey couldn’t believe this was happening. Her life was finally getting back on track. Her finger hovered over Stacie’s name on the display of her phone. Well, almost everything. She scrolled up and found Chloe’s number instead and sent her a text. She wasn’t sure if she was awake yet but she wasn’t expected to be at the hospital for a couple of hours so this would have to do for now. She called the other girls, her phone going back to Stacie’s number in between every call. She hadn’t tried to contact her since she went to get her things. She had tried to move on and focus on other things but being on spring break meant she didn’t have a lot of schoolwork to distract her. She’d find herself being reminded of Stacie and crying at the most random things. The last time was yesterday when she walked in to find Beca and Chloe snuggled up on her hospital bed watching Cosmos on her laptop. Even Beca had looked concerned when she ran out of the room crying.

Her relationship with Beca had gone back to one of silent tolerance when Chloe had told them she was getting her nodes removed. They had worked out a schedule so there was always someone in the hospital with her, and had even shared a couple of hours of awkward silence while she was in surgery. Neither of them had mentioned the incident after semifinals, deciding that it was better to let it go since there was nothing to do about it. Now that they were back in the game, she guessed they’d have to deal with it. Besides, patching things up with Beca gave her a better chance to work things out with Stacie.

Aside from the fact that the Bellas needed her to win, she really wanted her back. All that spontaneous crying over the past couple of weeks had proved how much she missed her, and she wasn’t going to let her pride get in the way this time. Yes, Stacie may have said some things that hurt her but she wasn’t entirely wrong. As much as she cared about winning, she knew there were more important things, bigger things. Finding out she could still get her dream of winning the ICCAs had been amazing, but not being able to share it with Stacie would make it pointless.

Her main concern at the moment, however, was getting Stacie to talk to her. Considering she didn’t wait for her when she went over to pick up her things, and that she left the teddy bear, Aubrey was sure Stacie wouldn’t want to talk to her. The thought of Stacie being over her crossed her mind but she pushed it away, there was no use in having those thoughts right now. She was a Posen and defeat was not an option.

She needed a surefire plan to get her girlfriend back which meant picking the right place and the right words. She had an idea on the where but she was going to need help getting Stacie there. She sighed. She guessed her talk with Beca was going to have to happen sooner rather than later.

She made her way to the hospital and went up to Chloe’s room, she was an hour early for her shift but she wanted to get this out of the way as soon as possible so she could start executing her plan. She took a deep breath and opened the door. Beca was sitting on a chair next to Chloe’s bed working on one of her mixes while Chloe did her nails. Chloe looked up and waved wildly, pointing at her phone.

“Yeah, Chlo, it’s great. Beca, can I talk to you for a sec?” Beca lifted her head, her eyes wide as saucers. Chloe’s mouth dropped open and looked between the two girls.

“Umm, yeah… sure.” Beca stood up and walked to the door, giving Chloe a terrified look before going out. Aubrey went out to the hall and closed the door.

“Alright, Beca, lay it out.” Beca raised her eyebrow not really understanding what Aubrey expected of her. “Tell me what’s your problem with me so we can fix it!”

“Oh, yikes. I don’t think it’s that easy, Aubrey.” She ran her hand through her hair.

“Please, Beca, just try.” Aubrey had never sounded so vulnerable, she had certainly never said please, so Beca figured she could try. She exhaled loudly and looked at the ceiling.

“Alright, I think you’re wrong for wanting us to do that boring, old set over and over. Also, you’ve never been very nice to me even though I have tried really hard to be nice to you. And, you broke Stacie’s heart so I hate you for that.” She looked at Aubrey tentatively, waiting for the other girl to start yelling at her or something but she saw she was smiling slightly.

“You’re right.” Beca didn’t think she had ever been more shocked by anything in her life before. “We need to change the set and I can try to be less… antagonistic.”

“Wow… that was not… I was not expecting this… okay.” Aubrey waved her hand dismissively, this really wasn’t about Beca or the Bellas. She still cared about winning, of course. She knew their set was overused. The worst that could happen was that they lost again, but at least this time there wouldn’t be a middle of the set song change. Besides, if letting Beca help with the set would get her to help her with Stacie, she didn’t care if they sang Justin Bieber.

“Now about the Stacie part, I was hoping you could help me make it right.”

* * *

Beca opened the door and let herself in. After the second time she'd had to do a full body search on Stacie to get her keys after she picked her up from some wild frat party, she had made a copy. Stacie had come back from visiting her mom three days ago. It was still early so Beca expected her to still be in bed, probably with a hangover. She navigated the dark room, tripping over a pair of discarded pumps. She got to the window and opened the curtains.

"Alright, enough of this drunk, mopey thing you've got going on. We're going out." She pushed Stacie who just groaned and hid under her pillow.

"Not getting up." Beca got on the bed and started jumping.

"Stop it, Beca!" She waved her arm around until it connected with Beca's ankle, making her fall on the bed.

"Ow, dude, that hurt." Beca rolled over and settled next to Stacie. "Come on, you have to shower, you stink."

She scrunched up her nose and Stacie shoved her shoulder. She buried her face in the pillow again, muffling her voice. "I don't have to shower because I'm not going anywhere. Go away."

Beca sighed. "Stacie, please. I really don't want to go to this thing by myself."

Stacie turned her head enough to look at her with one eye. Beca pouted at her. "Fine, I'll go!"

She turned to the other side, grabbed the bottle on the bedside table and drank. "Where exactly are we going?"

"I don't know, some thing Chloe wants me to check out in the city." Beca took the bottle and placed it on the dresser earning a glare from Stacie. "And you have to be sober for this so no more drinking today."

Stacie rolled her eyes and got out of bed. "You're lucky I love you, Mitchell."

* * *

Beca parked in front of a large building and got out of the car. She waited for Stacie to meet her and started walking. “Umm Beca, this place looks closed, are you sure we’re supposed to be here?”

Beca pretended to check the address on her phone and nodded. “I’m sure, come on.”

She walked to a door marked ‘Employees Only’ and knocked loudly. An old security guard opened the door and looked at them. “Beca Mitchell?”

Beca nodded and the guard moved over to let them in. Stacie bit her lip and followed Beca, grabbing her hand. The hallway was dark, the only light coming from the guard’s flashlight. Stacie stayed as close as she could to Beca.

“What exactly did Chloe want you to check here, the location for her next horror movie?” Stacie stage whispered in Beca’s ear. Beca shushed her and pulled her along.

They entered a large space, the other side too far to be made out in the dark. Beca let go of her hand and placed it against the wall. “Stace, I need you to wait for me here for a sec, okay? Don’t move.”

“What? Beca, no!” Beca walked back into the hallway behind the security guard.

“Beca, what the fuck! You can’t leave me here!” She fumbled in her purse and found her phone, taking it out and trying to shine a light around her. The light only reached a couple of feet in front of her, but it was enough to take a few tentative steps away from the wall.

“Beca! Come on, this is not funny!” She heard a loud switch turning and a line of lights marked a path towards the center of the room, she followed it. The lights were too small to see anything but the floor in front of her. Halfway to the center of the room she found a flashlight. She picked it up and flashed it around. She could make out something to her right but she wasn’t close enough to see exactly what it was. She stepped off the path. She got to what looked like a blanket laid on the floor, the only thing on it was a card. She picked up the card. It was just a piece of beige cardstock folded in half, her name beautifully scrolled in cursive on the front. She ran her fingers across her name and opened the card.

Stacie:

Sometimes I say the wrong thing, or something I don’t really mean, which is why I decided to write this down so there wouldn’t be any misunderstandings.

I’m sorry I said that we were a mistake, I didn’t mean that. I’m sorry I forgot there are more important things than winning and that you are one of those things. But the thing I’m most sorry about is pushing you away, I know I hurt you and I’ll never forgive myself for that. I’ve missed you so much and I hope that you would at least consider talking to me, even if you don’t want to get back together.

I love you.

Aubrey

Stacie choked down a sob and closed the card.

“Stace?” Stacie’s shoulders tensed at the sound of Aubrey’s voice. She felt a hand on her shoulder and Aubrey saw it as a good sign that she didn’t pull away. The hand travelled down her arm and tugged her lightly making her turn.

Aubrey touched something on the iPad she was holding and the ceiling lit up with a thousand lights. “I sort of bribed the guy who takes care of the planetarium for this. I figured you’d be more open to talking to me under the stars.”

Stacie, who had been looking up at the ceiling gaping, looked down. Aubrey's hand on Stacie’s arm moved to her hand, the brunette's fingers automatically seeking to fill the places between them with Aubrey’s. She closed her eyes making a tear roll down her cheek. Aubrey reached up and wiped it away with her thumb, resting her palm gently on the side of her face.

Stacie shook her head and pulled away. "I can't do this."

"Stacie, please." She squeezed Stacie's fingers to keep her from walking away. "I'm so sorry."

Stacie let go of her hand and crossed her arms but didn't walk away. "I can't go through this again. I can't go back if you're going to resent me every time something goes wrong because I was a distraction."

"I won't, I didn't mean that. You're not a distraction." Aubrey took a step towards her. "I know I handled it wrong, I'm not trying to make excuses here. But I will try to be better. Please, give me a chance."

"I don't know-"

"You don't have to decide now, I'll wait however long it takes. Just look at the stars with me? We've got the place for another hour." She walked to the edge of the blanket and looked back at Stacie. Stacie looked around the room and nodded.

They laid down on the blanket, their pinkies less than an inch apart.

"Beca told me..." Aubrey turned her head to look at her but Stacie's eyes were still focused on the ceiling. "... About the Bellas making it to finals. Were you going to tell me?"

"Of course, no matter what happens between us, you'll always be a Bella." She turned her body and faced Stacie. "Beca is helping me with the set list."

Stacie turned as well and raised an eyebrow at Aubrey. "She was right, we need a new sound."

Stacie pursed her lips and turned back to her back. Aubrey turned too and they lay in silence for a while. Stacie moved her pinky and hooked Aubrey's, pulling her hand closer. Aubrey turned her hand over and placed it close to Stacie, allowing Stacie to run her fingers along her palm.

Stacie played with Aubrey's fingers, entangling them and letting go, tracing random patterns on her palm and up to her wrist. She missed being close to her and touching her, she wasn't sure she'd be able to let go. That was what making her hesitate. She wanted to give her another chance and believe everything would be okay but she didn't think she could take Aubrey leaving her again.

She looked up at the ceiling. The projection changed, showing the changes in the night sky relative to the position of the earth. She remembered their first date and how far they had come since then. She lifted Aubrey's hand and looked at their fingers.

"I'm sorry I wasn't more sympathetic when we lost. I could've handled it better too." Aubrey's heart jumped in her chest, her heart rate accelerating. "I missed you too, so much. But I'm scared."

"I'm scared too. But I don't want to be scared without you." She scooted closer to Stacie and held Stacie's hand with both of her own, running her fingers over Stacie's knuckles.

"I can't promise we won't have problems again, but I can promise to try to work them out and not push you away." She kissed the back of Stacie’s hand softly and looked up at her expectantly.

Stacie bit her lip and nodded. "Okay."

"Okay?" Stacie nodded again and moved closer to Aubrey, bringing her free hand to her waist and pulling her closer. She pushed back a strand of Aubrey's hair away from her face, leaning down until their lips were almost touching.

"I love you." Aubrey felt more than heard the words against her lips. It took all of her self control to not close the gap between them but she was letting Stacie take the lead. Finally, Stacie leaned in and pressed her lips to the corner of Aubrey’s lips. She pulled back slightly before leaning back down and kissing her fully. Aubrey kissed her back, rolling onto her back and pulling Stacie on top of her. Stacie moaned and placed a series of kisses up her jaw and down her neck.

“God, I missed this.” She continued to the other side, her hand traveling over Aubrey’s ribs and to the waist of her pants.

“Stace.” Aubrey moaned and trapped Stacie’s hand. "Babe, I love where this is going but we can't here."

Stacie pouted. "I want my makeup sex."

"I know, and believe me, you'll get it. Just not here." She leaned up and kissed Stacie's pout.

Stacie got off her and landed heavily on her back, throwing her arms up dramatically. "Fine, let's look at stupid stars."

Aubrey laughed and threw her arm around Stacie's waist pulling her close. She kissed her cheek softly and laid her head on her shoulder. "I love you."

Stacie instinctively rearranged herself to fit the blonde and squeezed her closer. "I love you too."

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

Chloe bumped Beca's shoulder. "Look at them, they're so cute."

Beca pulled her headphones down. "What?"

"Aubrey and Stacie, they're really cute. Why aren't we that cute?" Chloe pouted and crossed her arms.

"Maybe if we break up too we'll be that gross when we get back together." Beca added. Chloe glared at her. "What?"

Chloe looked at the other couple again. Aubrey was leaning on Stacie's shoulder, Stacie's arm was wrapped around the older girl's shoulders, her hand twirling golden curls. They were both looking at a magazine Stacie had just bought. Aubrey pointed at something and Stacie chuckled. Aubrey turned her head and kissed Stacie's jaw quickly before settling back on her shoulder and turning the page. Chloe sighed. "We're never going to be that cute."

Beca looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Do you really want to be like them? They only stopped touching to get through security, and even then, they were eye fucking each other the whole time." Beca closed her laptop and took Chloe's hand. "Besides, I think you're cute enough to beat them."

Chloe smiled and kissed her.

* * *

"18B... aw I didn't get the window seat." She pouted as she lifted her bag into the overhead bin and turned around to help Aubrey with hers.

"I'm 18A, you can take my seat." Aubrey said and handed her her bag.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I've been to New York. You have to see the city when we're landing."

Stacie smiled and kissed her. "You're the best girlfriend."

Aubrey wrapped her arms around her waist and pulled her closer for another kiss.

"Hey, twig bitches, you're holding the line." Fat Amy bumped into Aubrey's back making them stumble.

Stacie got to her seat followed by Aubrey. She lifted the armrest between the seats and pulled Aubrey down. Aubrey fell on top of her laughing.

"Stace, I need to put my seatbelt on first." She moved to her seat and buckled in before settling back against Stacie's side. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Aubrey opened her eyes and looked up at Stacie.

"I was just thinking about how much things have changed. Last year, when I was flying to New York for the finals the feeling was completely different. I was sitting with Chloe, I was extremely nervous, and all I could think about was getting it over with. Now I have you and I couldn't be happier. Though it is the tiniest bit unlike I anticipated."

"What, you didn't think you'd have a smoking hot, super smart, and ridiculously good in bed girlfriend?" Stacie said pointing at herself.

Aubrey shook her head holding back a laugh. "I did not, but that's not what I meant. I just didn't think I'd ever care about anything or anyone more than I cared about winning."

"And then I came along." Stacie looked at her with a smug smile.

"And then you came along with your sexy smile and your stunning brain and changed me." She kissed Stacie softly.

"Well I didn't think I'd be in a serious relationship with anyone, especially not with someone as talented and incredible as you."

They heard Chloe holding back a squeal on the seat in front of them and Beca hitting her head against the headrest. "Aw man."

* * *

Aubrey placed her bag by the bed and opened it, taking out a small black box and putting it in her purse. She called out to Stacie in the bathroom. "Stace, do you wanna go to Central Park? We still have some time before we have to be at Lincoln Center for rehearsal."

Stacie walked back into the room and took her shirt off. "Sure, let me just change and I'll be good to go."

Aubrey stared at her girlfriend's exposed torso, it didn't matter that she had seen her a million times, the sight of Stacie's body made her want to touch her every time. Stacie turned to look for another shirt in her bag. Aubrey walked up to her, pushed her hair over her shoulder, and wrapped her arms around her waist, trailing a line of kisses across her upper back. "You're gonna have to stop that if you want us to have time for the park before rehearsal."

Aubrey pressed her cheek in between her shoulders. "You're gonna have to be less irresistible if you want me to stop touching you."

"I can't turn it off." Stacie chuckled.

"Don't you dare try." She gave her one final kiss and let her go.

* * *

They walked along the park holding hands. It was a nice spring day and there was a fair number of people and street artists all around. Stacie stopped to listen to a guy playing guitar. She dropped a dollar into his case and grabbed a flier. "Look, his band is playing in Brooklyn tomorrow night, we should go."

"I think we're going to be a bit busy celebrating with the other girls tomorrow." Aubrey squeezed her hand and pulled her along.

They walked to Bethesda fountain where Stacie made Aubrey take a ridiculous amount of pictures, ending with a selfie of her kissing Stacie's cheek and the brunette grinning goofily. "I love this! I'm gonna instagram it."

She picked a filter and her tongue poked out while she wrote the caption. Aubrey looked on her phone and smiled.

**Doing some touristy stuff with the bae aca-posen before rehearsal. #ihavethebestgirlfriend #ICCAfinalsweekend #loveyoubaby**

"I don't know how I feel about being called 'the bae'." She stuck her tongue out at Stacie.

"That's just how us kids on the Internet speak these days, I'm sorry you're too old to understand." Stacie stuck her tongue out back at her and started running away.

Aubrey gasped. "I'm gonna get you for that, Conrad!"

Stacie stopped running when she reached the Bow Bridge knowing she wouldn't be able to outrun Aubrey for long. A couple of seconds later, Aubrey reached her. Before she could do anything, Stacie hugged her, trapping her arms against her body and kissing her cheek repeatedly in between apologies.

Aubrey tried to squirm away but failed. "Fine! I forgive you!"

Stacie laughed triumphantly and let her go. Aubrey straightened out her clothes, her glare turning into a smile at Stacie's victory dance.

She remembered the box in her purse and took Stacie's hand. They walked to the center of the bridge and leaned on the railing side by side. Aubrey looked down at Stacie's hand, running her fingers up and down her palm. "Stace."

Stacie turned quickly, Aubrey was using her serious tone and that rarely meant something good. "What is it, Bree?"

Aubrey took a deep breath. "I know we haven't really talked about the future." Aubrey looked up at her and Stacie couldn't tell if this was going somewhere good or somewhere really really bad. "But I'm graduating soon and I got this job offer in Charlotte and I know it's far but it's only like a four hour drive so I could drive down to Barden for the weekend or we could meet at a halfway point or I don't know. I don't mean to pressure you, but I don't want to break up and I think we could figure out the whole long distance-"

Stacie reached up and placed both hands against Aubrey's cheeks. "Babe, calm down. I don't want to break up either. We'll work this out, okay?"

Aubrey nodded and smiled. Stacie moved her hands to the back of Aubrey's head and pulled her in for a kiss. After a while, Aubrey pushed Stacie away. "Wait, I have something for you."

Aubrey rummaged through her purse until she found the box. She took it out and opened it, taking out a silver charm bracelet. "I had this made before semifinals but well, you know."

She lifted Stacie's wrist and clasped the bracelet around it. Stacie lifted her arm to look at the charms. There was a sylver S with a tiny diamond, a little teddy bear, a star, a planet, a note and a bass clef.

Stacie shook her wrist and smiled up at her before throwing her arms around Aubrey. "It's perfect! Thank you."

They kissed for a while, ignoring everything and everyone. Nothing else existed in that moment. Until Aubrey's phone started buzzing in her back pocket.

"Ignore it." Stacie mumbled against her lips refusing to separate.

Aubrey chuckled and turned her head. "It's probably Chloe wondering where we are, we have to be at Lincoln Center soon." She took her phone out of her pocket and showed Stacie Chloe's name on the screen before answering. "Yes?"

"You're killing me, Beale!" Stacie yelled into the phone over Aubrey's shoulder.

"Yes, we're on our way…. Okay… Okay… Bye." She hung up and put her phone back in her pocket. "She said I should tell you that stopping you from dry humping me in public is her civic duty."

Stacie rolled her eyes. "She's such a prude."

The rest of the day passed in a blur. After dress rehearsal they went back to the hotel because Aubrey insisted they be well rested before their performance. The next morning, they got up bright and early and headed to Lincoln Center. They weren't scheduled to perform until later that afternoon but they enjoyed watching the other groups.

Stacie stood on the wings bouncing nervously watching the Trebles. Aubrey wrapped her arms around Stacie's waist from behind and whispered in her ear. "Calm down, we're going to do great."

Stacie squeezed Aubrey's hands. "How are you so calm?"

"I already got what I wanted." She kissed Stacie's cheek. "Everything else is a bonus."

Stacie turned in Aubrey's arms and kissed her. "I love you."

"Guys! We're almost on, can you stop making out for like five minutes?" Beca beckoned them over to their pre-performance huddle.

"Ready, babe?" Aubrey asked looking up at Stacie.

She gave her a big smile and pecked her lips. "Ready."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the end... I know, it's sad. But if you like this, I'm already writing another one! I knoooowwww, so exciting. Anyway, I had this idea. You know how in movies they sometimes have these little outtakes when they roll the credits? Well I decided to do something like that so there's a chapter after this that's not really part of the story but it's like little deleted scenes. Hope you enjoyed this! Oh and I want to thank the walnut I call my best friend for enabling my PP obsession and my cheeseface. I love you, jellybean!


	10. Deleted Scenes

Aubrey sat on the couch and leaned on Stacie's shoulder. After a couple of moments of shifting around, she grabbed Stacie's arm and threw it over her shoulders. She settled for a couple of minutes before squirming again. Stacie glared at her and she smiled apologetically. She shifted and moved her head to Stacie's lap but her neck started to get sore after a while. She got up again and sat on Stacie's lap, throwing her arms around her neck. Stacie smiled at her distractedly and wrapped her arms around her hips pulling her closer.

Aubrey couldn't really see the television anymore so she started peppering kisses on Stacie's neck. Stacie didn't acknowledge her but tilted her head unconsciously to accommodate her. Aubrey hit a particularly sensitive spot and Stacie's breath hitched. Aubrey smiled against her skin and ran her teeth lightly over that spot. She felt Stacie squirm under her, her arms tightening around her body pulling her closer. She bit down a little harder, quickly soothing the skin with her tongue. She could feel Stacie's body temperature rising and heard her stifle a moan. She latched her lips to the spot and sucked softly. Stacie groaned and lifted her to flip their bodies and lay her down on the couch.

"I really wanted to watch that movie."

Aubrey smirked. "I know."

* * *

"Babe, what's your Instagram handle?" Stacie was lying on Aubrey's bed, her head cradled on Aubrey's lap while the blonde read.

"My what?" Aubrey looked up from the book she was reading.

"Instagram handle? Username? The thing people use to find you on Instagram and follow you?"

Aubrey raised her eyebrows and looked back down to her book. "Oh, I don't have that."

"You, what?" Stacie got up and sat on Aubrey's lap. "I'll make you an account, give me your phone."

Aubrey rolled her eyes and grabbed her phone from the bedside table. "I don't understand why I need that."

"So you can post cool photos!" Stacie waited for the app to download and opened it. "Okay, what do you want to be called."

"I don't know, Aubrey Posen."

Stacie rolled her eyes. "You can't use your actual name! Okay how about… HunterTamer69."

"What? No, give me that." Aubrey tried to grab the phone but Stacie's arms were too long for her to reach.

"Okay, okay, not that." Stacie looked up thoughtfully, her tongue poking out from the side of her mouth.

"I have one!" She smiled proudly at Aubrey who just nodded at her to continue. "Aca-Posen."

"Yeah, okay. I can live with that."

* * *

"Turn it off! Turn it off!" Chloe was running around the kitchen waving her arms while Stacie turned every knob on the stove. They were trying to make Valentine's Day dinner for Aubrey and Beca but something had gone horribly wrong.

"I don't know how!" The kitchen started to fill up with smoke and the fire alarm started beeping. Aubrey came running in from the living room.

"What the hell happened?" Aubrey ran to the other side and grabbed the fire extinguisher. She pushed Stacie back and emptied it on the stove.

"Thanks, Bree." Chloe hid behind Beca who had come in behind Aubrey.

Stacie looked at the mess on the counter and the stove and grimaced. "So… Pizza?"

* * *

Stacie straightened out her antlers and went into her bedroom with a little skip, waving her arms like a car show model. "What do you think?"

Aubrey was sitting on Stacie's bed looking up at her with her mouth open. She swallowed. "Yeah, that's good."

"Oh I forgot!" She skipped to her desk and grabbed a stick with a bit of mistletoe hanging from the edge. She walked to Aubrey holding the stick and smiling seductively.

Aubrey laughed as Stacie bent down to kiss her, placing her knees on the bed and pushing the blonde down. Aubrey grabbed the stick from Stacie's hand.

"You're not taking this with you."

* * *

Chloe closed the front door bobbing her head to the music coming from her headphones. She found a pile of mail by the door and picked it up, going through it and putting it on the table. She dropped her bag on the couch and kicked off her shoes, a shirt was hanging from the back of the couch but she figured Aubrey must have left it there for some reason. She walked to the kitchen and opened the door, yelling when she found a very naked Aubrey on the counter with her legs and arms wrapped around a half naked Stacie. Chloe's eyes widened in alarm and she backed out of the kitchen covering her eyes.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't know anyone was here! My class was canceled and I just came in and I had my headphones on and I'm sorry!" She stood outside the kitchen with her eyes still covered.

"Chloe?" Aubrey pulled her hands away from her face.

"Are you dressed?" Her eyes were still shut tightly.

"Yes, we're dressed. I'm sorry, we didn't know you'd be home early." Aubrey looked ashamed. Stacie just looked like she wanted to get back to what they were doing.

"Excuse me, but how is that an excuse for kitchen sex? I make food in there!" Aubrey blushed and Stacie at least had the decency to look away.

"Yes! We're sorry, we never do that." Stacie scoffed and Aubrey elbowed her. "We just got carried away making lunch."

Chloe gave them an incredulous look and threw her arms up walking away. "Whatever! Just make sure you clean up when you're done."

"Yes! We'll clean! Now!" Aubrey huffed and was about to go into the kitchen to clean when Stacie's hand on her wrist stopped her.

She looked back to find Stacie grinning wickedly. "She said to clean up when we were done and I'm not done."

* * *

"STACIE!" Stacie's eyes shot up over her cereal bowl. She had been on the couch watching Sunday cartoons with Beca.

"Dude, what did you do?" Beca looked at her with an amalgamation of amusement and worry.

"I don't know!" She bit her lip nervously.

"Run away?"

"She's way too fast, I wouldn't make it to the corner." They heard a door open forcefully and loud steps heading their way.

They looked at each other with matching wide eyed, terrified looks. "You're dead."

* * *

_Grab somebody sexy tell them_

_Hey, give me everything tonight_

"Stop!" Aubrey was standing in front of them checking on the routine. They were on one of their last rehearsals and it was the first time they were doing it in the clothes they were wearing for the competition. Everyone was frozen in their place with mildly scared faces waiting for Aubrey to tell them what was wrong. She stalked forward and stopped in front of Stacie.

"You look so hot, babe." She grabbed Stacie and kissed her forcefully. It took Stacie a second to get over the shock but she soon started to kiss her back passionately.


End file.
